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Al Jazeera calls it the ‘Sixth War’ of the Arabs against Israel. Israel calls it a defensive military operation which comes under the umbrella of
‘having the right to defend itself against terrorism’. Whatever you choose to call it, the terms of the Middle East crisis are pretty much all
interchangeable.
Depending on who you ask, the ‘terrorists’ are also the ‘saviours’ and the ‘attackers’ are also the ‘victims’. Though there is a distinct asymmetry
here, Lebanese and Israeli civilians have paid dearly with their lives in this latest round of Middle-East muscle-flexing.
Upon closer inspection however, it is clear that there are other layers to this conflict, which are of a more subtle nature than all the senseless
death and destruction. A huge public relations battle is going on here, a war in which the weapons are not rockets or missiles but instead are
images, prejudices and emotions. This is the war for the hearts and minds.
Israel, for its part, is only too aware of this. When the crisis started and the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the UN were summoned in front
of the UN Security Council, the PR war had begun. The Israeli Ambassador’s speech was a plea to the hearts and minds of the Lebanese people, serving
almost as an offer to rid them of the scourge of Hezbollah. The Lebanese Ambassador, on the other hand, cited Israeli aggression without mentioning Hezbollah’s kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers. Furthermore,
the Israeli Foreign Minister has openly stated that the high number of Lebanese civilian casualties is ‘problematic’ for Israel’s image abroad. Then, a
major Israeli newspaper reported that the Israeli Prime Minister has met with some 50 spokespeople from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Israel
Defence Forces and other Israeli government agencies, to instruct them on the principal messages that they should be delivering in appearances before
the foreign media.
The principle Israeli message in this PR war being that when Israel kills civilians, Israel views this as a failure - but when Hezbollah kills
civilians, Hezbollah see this as a success.
However, even by the most conservative of estimates, Israel seems to have failed a lot more often than Hezbollah has succeeded.
While the Hezbollah PR machine may not be as polished and sophisticated as the Israeli one, the importance of the PR war has not been lost on
Hezbollah either. Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader has become something of a poster boy and indeed a hero in popular Arab thought. In fact,
Nasrallah has spawned a souvenir industry churning out everything from tapes and CDs of his speeches to posters, key rings and T-shirts in the wake
of this latest conflict. Shopkeepers and stall owners in Arab towns are reporting that sales of Nasrallah merchandise have risen.
The reasoning behind this is that for many in the region, Hezbollah have done what Arab leaders seem to be incapable of doing, and this is standing
up to the mighty military and political machine which is Israel. So, while they have been adopted as a voice for the Arabs against oppression,
various Arab leaders are not impressed. Saudi Arabia drew a clear distinction between Hezbollah and Lebanon, and blamed the former for sparking this
crisis. This might be down to a very real fear that Hezbollah has emerged to Arab masses as a champion for Arab causes, as an agent with the ability
to rectify perceived injustices in parts of the Arab world, and, importantly, has the potential to create revolutions and challenge the leaderships.
But what if this PR fails? Things are suddenly not so black and white when we realise that nearly 20% of Israel’s population are actually Sunni
Muslim or Christian Arabs. Add to this the fact that nearly 40% of the Lebanese population are Christian. Then consider the way in which Hezbollah
rockets have hit Israeli Arab towns and villages, causing death and destruction. Israeli air raids have targeted Lebanese Christian and Sunni
Muslim areas that are not affiliated with Hezbollah.
So, if we strip away the labels of Israel, Lebanon, Jew, Shia, Sunni, Christian, there is only one thing we are left with in this situation – human
suffering and the loss of humanity itself.
(c) Lynne Featherstone, 2006
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A huge public relations battle is going on here, a war in which the weapons are not rockets or missiles but instead are images, prejudices and emotions.
